Cliff Street infrastructure project on schedule in Yarmouth

YARMOUTH - The loud tapping of an excavator hammer on a rock ledge reverberates in the background as Richie Hurlburt, super for the Cliff Street infrastructure project, provides an update on Sept. 6.

Water and sewer lines from the 1800s are being replaced on Cliff Street.

“We’re on schedule. We’re into some rock right now, as you can hear, but there’s a crew coming in to start fine grading for paving William to Aberdeen in two weeks,” he said.

“We’re hoping to be paved by the end of the month.”

It’s been a long, slow progression up the street this summer with excavators at work ripping up Cliff Street to expose a rock sewer line that was installed in 1860 by hand.

Water and sewer lines from the 1800s are being replaced on Cliff Street.

That line is being replaced, as well as water lines from the 1880s. A new storm sewer system and catchment basins are being installed. There was no separation between storm water and sewer so everything was getting treated in the past.

Workers will be ripping up the next section, from just past Aberdeen to Pleasant Street, in two to three weeks. There, Cliff Street lines will be joined with the existing Pleasant Street system.

Cliff Street project super Richie Hurlburt (white hat) supervises the offload of a bucket of gravel with two other workers.

“I’ll have it done this year. We’ll be here until the end of November into December,” said Hurlburt.

He added that he is trying to get Aberdeen Street opened up as soon as possible in order to shorten the section being worked on, to affect fewer people.

The rock sewer line being replaced was installed in 1860 by hand.

There will be no access for vehicles from Seminary onto Cliff during the next section of the project.

Earlier this year water and sewer lines were replaced on sections of Water, Brown and Main streets.

Forms for curb installation, under construction on Cliff Street.

Funding

The town has received federal funding of $1,718,188 and provincial funding of $859,094 towards the $3-million project.

Driveway compaction is underway in preparation for sidewalk and curb installation midway on Cliff Street.